Can I divide a stereo track into two mono tracks?

[Montanaokie]

No matter how I record into any of my video recording devices, I can find no option to record a single, mono audio track. The .wav file always comes out stereo. When I add my video track into Mixcraft 8 I always get a stereo .wav track. Trying to do any useful editing or mixing of the stereo track is beyond my comprehension. I like to record additional individual mono tracks as backing tracks to the solo track that is on the video's audio. Can't I just split the stereo track and use the L or R channel to create one (or two) mono track(s)?

[cactus-head]

If your track is recorded in stereo make a duplicate or make a copy of that track so you have two. Choose one of them by clicking on the clip itself, then click on the Sound tab.

In the bottom section of the sound tab there's an Audio tab that will allow you to select Left, Right or Stereo for that clip.

audio channel.JPG (40.72 KiB) Viewed 3403 times

Set each clip to left and to the right respectively and then pan each track to the left or the right if you want the balance shifted as such.

[Mark Bliss]

Lets back up. I am missing something.

Is the audio recording stereo?
IE: recorded with one mic or a stereo pair?

[Montanaokie]

I have an XLR cable that takes one mic signal and splits it into a mini TRS with the mic signal being shared to both channels. I also have stereo electret condenser mics that also use a mini TRS into the EXT audio input. No matter what kind of input I give to the camcorder the product is always a stereo .wav file. I like working with a mono file in Mixcraft because I can change volume levels, do fade-ins and fade-outs, etc.

I will go to the sound tab and play with it for awhile. If I end up with two tracks - one with the signal panned left and one with the signal panned right, I will have failed. My goal is to have either L or R (or one of each) from a stereo track sitting by itself right in the middle of a mono track. L could be track 4 and R could be track 5 for example.

[Mark Bliss]

I have an XLR cable that takes one mic signal and splits it into a mini TRS with the mic signal being shared to both channels.

Both channels of what?

I also have stereo electret condenser mics that also use a mini TRS into the EXT audio input. No matter what kind of input I give to the camcorder the product is always a stereo .wav file. I like working with a mono file in Mixcraft because I can change volume levels, do fade-ins and fade-outs, etc.

You can do all that either way. So I am still unsure what you mean.

I will go to the sound tab and play with it for awhile.

?? What is your goal in the sound tab? What are you doing?

If I end up with two tracks - one with the signal panned left and one with the signal panned right, I will have failed.

??? Failed at what? Why?

My goal is to have either L or R (or one of each) from a stereo track sitting by itself right in the middle of a mono track. L could be track 4 and R could be track 5 for example.

I am pretty sure there is some misunderstanding here.

The embedded audio from the imported video may be two channels, but if you are using one mic split into the two inputs of the camcorder (which I am assuming is what you mean) it is mono audio. Two identical channels of audio. Not stereo.
(And you might possibly consider that the sound card in your camera may not be functioning ideally with the impedance of one mic split to both channels. Though it might be a minimal effect)

If on the other hand, you are recording with two mics, and the audio Is actually stereo (some degree of difference in the two channels) and for some reason you dont want that, you could insert a plug-in that collapses the audio to mono. But that is still two identical channels.

Either way, you can use the audio in the DAW the same as any other. Editing, panning, automating. There is no difference I can think of really.

You are working with a stereo input device with two channels and a stereo DAW with two channels. If they are identical, its mono.
I just dont understand the problem.

And another thought.
All due respect to @cactus-head for trying to help. But if you hard pan a stereo signal and try to separate it that way you run the risk of creating problems by overlooking the fact that each side is a combination of side and center audio. Re-combining can possibly have unexpected results, depending on just how you use the new tracks/channels.

[cactus-head]

One does have to be careful Mark!

Most of the time I just hit the keyboard with a hammer and hope for good results. That being said, a monophonic audio file doesn't contain 2 channels of sound information while a stereo file does. A split view of two channels implies a two channel/stereo file even if the information is the same on each channel. This ultimately doubles the size of the file unnecessarily. If you are short on resources, this adds up quickly.

Mark is correct in that if there are mixed sources of sound on the left that differs from the right, splitting them the way I suggest might lose information - that's my attempt at trying to deal with the absence of a function to create a monophonic track in Mixcraft after recording. After reviewing the file sizes for a true mono track and a stereo track that is set to left or right, the left or right track is still twice as large - so no size advantage.

As it stands the only true way I know of to convert a two channel audio clip to a single channel mono clip in mixcraft is to use an external editor. You would combine the two channels to mono, then have that clip imported back into mixcraft. The import and export is handled automatically if you set up an external editor in Mixcraft.

[Mark Bliss]

I doubt file size is the issue, but I could be wrong.

And an interleaved audio file should actually be somewhat smaller than two seperate mono files, all else being equal.
Either way, normally track files arent that large, unless you have very long tracks or unnecessarily high sampling rates or something.

I suspect a basic misconception is at the root of the question.
Not sure without more clarification.

[aj113]

I like working with a mono file in Mixcraft because I can change volume levels, do fade-ins and fade-outs, etc.

You can do this with stereo tracks just the same as mono.